This invention relates to a slide-out room for mobile living quarters.
Mobile living quarters, including recreational vehicles such as travel trailers and fifth wheel travel trailers and motor homes, are limited in width to that which can be accommodated for travel over public highways. Since consumers demand that such mobile living quarters, when parked for use, provide adequate living accommodations, it has become customary to provide recreational vehicles with xe2x80x9cslide-outxe2x80x9d rooms that are withdrawn into the main living quarters when the recreational vehicle is moved over public highways, but which slide out to provide additional space when the unit is parked for use. Providing a slide-out room for a recreational vehicle substantially increases the complexity and cost of the unit. Accordingly, it is desirable to simplify construction of slide-out rooms, while also assuring that the slide-out rooms always have the necessary structural rigidity. It is also necessary that slide-out rooms be, as nearly as possible, free of leaks. Since a slide-out room is relatively large and includes one side which is entirely open (so that users can have ready access to the portion of the living quarters defined by the slide-out room when the unit is parked for use), slide-out rooms must be designed to have the necessary structural rigidity, and provisions must be made so that leaks are avoided.
According to the present invention, a slide-out room for mobile living quarters includes an outer wall consisting of a frame including a channel portion that extends around the side walls, ceiling and floor of the slide-out room. The frame includes an outer flange that extends outwardly from the channel portion over the adjacent portions of the wall of the main living quarters which define the aperture through which the slide-out room extends and retracts. An outer wall panel is secured to the flange by an appropriate adhesive. The channel portion also includes an inner flange which extends parallel to the outer flange onto which an inner wall panel member is secured by an appropriate adhesive. The channel portion of the frame and the inner and outer panels define a cavity therebetween which receives appropriate insulating material. The channel member also defines a socket that extends around the outer wall and that receives the side walls, the floor, and the ceiling of the slide-out room, thereby forming a rigid structure which permits walls, ceiling and floor of the slide-out room to be easily assembled. A drip rail extends along the portion of the frame which receives the ceiling to deflect any moisture which may leak through the outer flange away from the walls of the slide-out room. The channel portion of the frame includes a raceway conduit which circumscribes the outer wall that permits easy routing of the necessary electrical connections.